Pain in the heart - causes of pain depending on the type and location of pain

Chief editor of the site:

Snitkovsky Arkady Alexandrovich

Chief physician of the professorial dentistry “22 Century”, dentist, orthopedic dentist

Author of the article:

Scientific team of dentistry “22 Century”

Dentists, candidates and doctors of medical sciences, professors

Pain after dental prosthetics can occur both during the period of adaptation to a new design and be the norm, or be a symptom of the development of an inflammatory process in the oral cavity. In the first case, the unpleasant sensations disappear on their own after some time or after correction of the dental structure. In the second case, it is necessary to determine and eliminate the cause; this could be an incorrectly manufactured prosthesis, poorly treated supports under the structure and the further development of complications - pulpitis, periodontitis, periostitis, exacerbation of chronic processes such as periodontitis, the formation of periodontal abscess, and so on. To receive qualified assistance, the patient must go to a dental clinic. Self-medication is strictly prohibited.

Pain in the heart area: causes

Acute coronary syndrome with pain in the heart area is the most dangerous condition. It occurs when a sudden blockage or narrowing of a coronary artery significantly reduces or completely stops the blood supply to an area of the heart muscle (myocardium). The lack of blood supply to any tissue is called ischemia. If the supply is significantly reduced or stopped for more than a few minutes, the heart tissue dies. This is how a heart attack, or myocardial infarction (MI), develops. This is the death (necrosis) of a certain area of cardiac tissue due to ischemia.

A blood clot (or thrombus) is the most common cause of blockage of a coronary artery. Typically, the artery is already partially narrowed due to the accumulation of cholesterol and other fatty materials in the artery wall (atheroma or plaque). It may crumble or rupture, releasing substances that make platelets stickier, which encourages clot formation. In about two-thirds of people, the blood clot dissolves on its own, usually within 1-2 days. However, by this time, damage to small areas of the heart has usually occurred.

In rare cases, a heart attack occurs when a clot forms in the heart itself, breaks off, and becomes lodged in a coronary artery. Another uncommon cause is a coronary artery spasm that stops blood flow. Cramps can be caused by stress, taking certain medications, smoking, or alcohol. Sometimes the exact cause of pain in the heart area cannot be determined.

A tooth hurts under an old filling: when do you need help from a dentist?

If the pain does not subside, you cannot do without a visit to the clinic. To make a correct diagnosis, the dentist needs to know all the symptoms associated with pain. The further method of treatment depends on the condition of the teeth and adjacent tissues. As a rule, the previous filling is removed, treated with antiseptics, and the canals are cleaned and sealed again.

After dental surgery, it is imperative to follow the doctor’s recommendations. They speed up the healing process and prevent new inflammations from developing. After applying the filling, it is not recommended to drink alcoholic beverages or excessively hot or cold food. Avoid sweets and solid foods. For the first two days, it is recommended to eat only soft foods and rinse your mouth after eating. Chew on the opposite side of the filled tooth for three days. You should brush your teeth gently and without pressure.

Even if the pain was there but has subsided, you should not postpone your visit to the clinic. Inflammatory processes may continue, and the pain will certainly return with even greater force.

Types of pain in the heart area

Depending on the specific cause, the patient is bothered by pain in the heart area of various types. They can be isolated, but are more often accompanied by other symptoms that also need to be paid attention to. Based on the type of pain and its location, duration and accompanying complaints, one or another pathology can be suspected.

Acute coronary syndrome occurs as a result of sudden blockage of a coronary artery (or its branch). This blockage causes unstable angina or the development of myocardial infarction, depending on the location and extent of the blockage. People with acute coronary syndrome usually experience pressure or sharp chest pain, shortness of breath, and fatigue.
Aortic dissection. Over time, uncontrolled high blood pressure can weaken the wall of the heart's main artery (aorta). It will thin until it eventually ruptures, causing aortic dissection, which is a medical emergency. Aortic dissection usually causes sudden, severe, sharp pain in the chest, neck, throat, or jaw and often a feeling of pressure in the chest that radiates backwards.
Heart valve damage. The heart has four chambers. The upper and lower chambers are connected by valves with gates that open and close to allow blood to flow in only one direction. If the valves are affected, the flaps become hardened, fused, or leak and do not function properly. The consequences of these valve problems can cause chest pain in the heart area.
Myocarditis and pericarditis. Chest pain can also be caused by irritation and swelling of the heart (myocarditis) or its outer lining (pericarditis). Inflammation can be caused by infection or as a consequence of a heart attack or heart surgery. Pain from myocarditis or pericarditis is usually sharp, burning and localized in the center of the chest, in the sternum. Typical pain in the heart area when inhaling, against a background of coughing, or when moving. Sometimes it decreases if the patient sits or leans forward.
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). This is a thickening of part of the heart. When a person has this condition, the heart has to work harder to pump blood in and out of the heart, which can cause dull or aching pain in the chest. They can intensify with stress.

Physiotherapy

Gymnastics, massage, and developing correct posture can help relieve pain under the right shoulder blade from the back. Before starting exercise, you need to warm and relax your muscles using a bath, hot compress or hair dryer.

Shoulder massage. It is carried out in a lying position on a hard surface:

Stroking the scapular area.
Pinching using the pads of the fingers, thumb and forefinger.
Comb-like rubbing. It is carried out with the phalanges of the fingers of a hand clenched into a fist.
Circular kneading. It is done with the pads of the thumbs of both hands.
Spiral rubbing. It is performed using the pads of 4 fingers in a circular motion.
Stroking the shoulder blade and surrounding area of the body.

To study Tumor (cancer) of the spinal cord: symptoms

The lesson lasts 20 minutes, the course includes 10–15 sessions, which can be carried out daily or every other day.

Scapula stabilization exercise, repeated 10–15 times:

Lie face down on the edge of the sofa.
Place one hand under your forehead and extend the other above the floor.
Keeping your arm straight, slowly raise it, pressing your shoulder blade back toward your spine. The pose resembles a half-T.
Stay in this position for 3-4 seconds, then slowly return to the starting position.

Exercise to stretch the scapular muscles:

In a standing position, take a large soft ball and hug it with your hands.
Continue squeezing the ball as much as possible.
When squeezing, strain your back as much as possible, pushing your hands away from you.
Lower your face down.
Try to feel the stretch in the area where there is pain.
Stay in this position for 30 seconds.
Relax.
Repeat the exercise 2-3 times.

Other causes of chest pain

Pain in the heart area at rest is possible, which is of extracardiac origin, but simulates cardiac pathology. These may be problems with the lungs (thromboembolism of the branches of the pulmonary artery, pneumonia, cancer) or damage to the intercostal muscles, costal cartilages (costochondritis), osteochondrosis. Then there will be pain in the ribs, especially when breathing deeply, aching or stabbing pain, malaise or weakness. With thromboembolism, breathing problems, severe shortness of breath, increasing dizziness, and a feeling of lack of air occur.

It is not easy to recognize these pathologies, therefore, if any pain appears in the chest area, especially in the left shoulder blade, in the chest area, above the heart area, you should immediately call an ambulance or consult a doctor.

Expert advice

Many people with back pain that develops against the background of osteochondrosis begin to warm the affected area with heating pads, apply alcohol compresses, go to the bathhouse or rub themselves with gels with an irritating effect based on capsoicin. This cannot be done, since the nerve is pinched, inflamed and swollen. Such treatment only worsens the situation. To quickly get rid of unpleasant sensations, take NSAIDs, limit yourself in physical activity and use local anesthetic drugs.

Symptoms for which you need to call an ambulance

The manifestations of different types of acute coronary syndrome are similar, and it is often impossible to distinguish between angina and heart attack based on symptoms alone.

The symptoms of angina are quite typical. People usually experience an attack of pressing, squeezing pain under the shoulder blade or behind the sternum. People often interpret this sensation as discomfort or heaviness rather than pain. Discomfort may also occur in the shoulder or on the inside of either arm, spreading through the back into the throat, jaw or teeth. However, in people with unstable angina the picture changes. Attacks of pain occur more frequently or more severely, or attacks occur at rest or after light physical activity. About two out of three people who have a heart attack experience unstable angina, shortness of breath or fatigue in the days or weeks before. This change in chest pain patterns can lead to a heart attack.

With a heart attack, the most recognizable symptom is usually pain in the middle of the chest, which may spread to the back, jaw, or left arm. Less commonly, the pain spreads to the right arm. The pain of a heart attack is similar to that of angina, but is usually more severe, lasts longer, and is not relieved by rest or nitroglycerin. Less commonly, the pain is felt in the abdomen, where it may be mistaken for indigestion, especially because burping may provide partial or temporary relief.

For unknown reasons, women often experience atypical symptoms that are less likely to be accurately diagnosed as a heart problem. About a third of people who have had a heart attack do not experience chest pain. Typically these include women, people over 75, those with heart failure or diabetes, and those who have had a stroke.

Other symptoms of an attack include feeling lightheaded or faint, sudden heavy sweating, nausea, shortness of breath, and fast heartbeat (tachycardia).

During a heart attack, a person may become restless, anxious, sweat profusely, and may experience a feeling of impending doom. Lips, hands or feet may turn slightly blue. During the first hours of a heart attack, a heart murmur and abnormal heart sounds can be heard with a stethoscope.

The mechanism of development of pain

How does it happen that the heart hurts, but it stings under the shoulder blade, and most often with the left one? I think the answer to this question interests many readers. To understand the origin of this phenomenon, it is necessary to delve a little into the doctrine of the processes of intrauterine development of the fetus. At the time when our heart takes on its final form, the formation of the neck, back and girdle of the upper extremities, which includes not only the arms themselves, but also the shoulder blades, is completed - all these formations receive nerve fibers from nearby segments of the spinal cord. Therefore, the pain impulse can “jump” from one floor to another. This phenomenon was called irradiation.

This leads to the conclusion: there is no need to go to extremes and attribute a heart attack to yourself before a full medical examination.

How is diagnosis carried out in patients who often experience heart pain?

An ECG is the most important initial diagnostic procedure for frequent chest pain. Abnormalities detected by an ECG help doctors determine the type of treatment needed. Abnormalities on the ECG also help determine where the heart muscle has been damaged. If several ECGs recorded over a period of several hours are completely normal, doctors consider a heart attack unlikely.

Measuring levels of certain substances (called cardiac markers) in the blood also helps doctors diagnose abnormalities. These substances are usually found in the heart muscle, but only enter the bloodstream when it is damaged or dead. The most commonly measured are heart muscle proteins called troponin I and troponin T, and an enzyme called creatine kinase. Blood levels rise within 6 hours of a heart attack and remain elevated for several days. Levels of cardiac markers are usually measured upon admission to the hospital and at 6 to 12 hour intervals over the next 24 hours.

When ECG and cardiac markers do not provide sufficient information, echocardiography can be performed. It may show decreased mobility of part of the left ventricular wall. This suggests damage due to a heart attack. Other tests are used to determine whether a person needs additional treatment or is likely to have heart problems. For example, a person may have to wear a Holter monitor, which records the heart's electrical activity over a 24-hour period. This procedure allows doctors to determine whether a person has an abnormal heart rhythm (arrhythmia) or episodes of poor blood flow without symptoms (silent ischemia).

An exercise test (electrocardiography done during exercise) before or shortly after discharge can help determine how well a person is doing after the attack and whether ischemia continues.

During an exercise tolerance test (stress test), a person walks on a treadmill at an accelerating pace. A blood pressure cuff monitors your blood pressure throughout the procedure. The video monitor displays the pulse and ECG. The results help determine the presence of coronary heart disease.

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Folk remedies

To relieve tension in muscle trigger points, methods available at home are used.

Baths

Hot baths relieve pain and can be combined with massage.

Bath solution prepared in advance:

250 g Epsom salt.
1 tbsp. baking soda.
10 drops of peppermint essential oil.
5 drops of eucalyptus, rosemary, lavender oil.
2 tbsp. l. dried lavender.
1 tbsp. l. sprigs of rosemary.

A bath with ginger improves blood circulation. To do this, grate a piece of root, soak in hot water for 15 minutes, add the solution to warm bath water. Take a bath with additives for no more than 20 minutes; you should not rinse with water after the procedure. To keep warm, you should wrap yourself in a warm robe.

Decoctions and infusions

Eucalyptus tincture:

Take 10 g of crushed leaves, 200 ml of alcohol, mix everything.
Place in a warm place for 14 days. Shake the jar of solution periodically.
Strain the prepared solution into a glass bottle and close with a lid.

Ginger tincture:

Fresh root, 50 g, vodka or alcohol 200 ml, honey 1 tbsp. l. (not necessary).
Pour chopped ginger with alcohol, add honey, leave for 2 weeks.
Strain the prepared solution, pour into a glass bottle, and close with a lid. Can be stored for up to 2 years.

Cat's claw decoction:

Take 2 g of herb, add 0.5 liters of water, boil for no more than 10 minutes.
Strain, cool and use as intended.
The decoction can be used as a compress.

Compresses

Warming compresses increase blood flow and relieve spasms:

Roll the bandage in several layers.
Soak in hot water (at least +70˚С).
Apply to the sore spot.
Place a film and warming material on top.
As the dressing cools, warm it in hot water.

Pain-relieving compresses:

St. John's wort oil. Rub the area of inflammation with oil.
Place gauze, film, warm material or a woolen scarf on top.
Wrap the compress with a bandage around the chest.
You can leave it overnight.

Herbal compress:

Mix dried chamomile flowers, tricolor violet, burdock and plantain roots in equal parts. 1 tbsp. l. Pour the mixture into a glass container, pour boiling water over it, and leave until the herb softens.
Apply the steamed broth to the sore spot, cover with cotton cloth, cellophane, and a warm scarf.
After 15 min. remove the compress. The optimal treatment option for pain under the right shoulder blade from the back is a combination of medications and non-drug approaches. Complex therapy will help you quickly cope with the disease and get rid of pain.

Treatment of diseases of the spinal column

Depression and pessimism lead to resentment of the Mucus, which is manifested by “cold” diseases. Anger and aggression are provoked by the Bile dosha and the development of “heat” diseases. Eastern treatises say that any extreme of the emotional background leads to an imbalance of vital energies and diseases of the spinal column.

Naran offers proven treatment methods:

Acupuncture - inserting needles into bioactive points stops degenerative processes.
Energy acupressure massage complements the effect of acupuncture.
Vacuum therapy – cupping massage improves blood circulation in problem areas.
Stone therapy – semi-precious stones effectively combat “cold” diseases.
Moxibustion therapy - smoke from a wormwood cigar eliminates muscle spasms.
Herbal medicine – healing herbal infusions restore excited doshas from the inside.
Tibetan gymnastics “5 pearls” - exercises of Tibetan monks to maintain youth and improve health.

Treatment of bursitis

The development of bursitis is influenced by the excitation of the Bile dosha, which is associated with the manifestation of negative emotions (anger, irritability) and abuse of fatty foods and alcohol. To restore harmony, the patient is recommended:

herbal medicine (normalizes metabolic processes);
various options for acupuncture (relieves inflammation, prevents the progression of degenerative processes);
vacuum therapy (improves microcirculation);
deep acupressure (consolidates the positive results of treatment).